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Light Tank Tactics
Looking for the Moment As something of a numbers guy, I always spend a few moments at the end of the game seeing who has done well on each side. I’ve noticed a lot how light tanks get smashed, and are not doing enough damage to get repairs and shells covered. My thoughts on using lights effectively (and I pretty much always use lights) is that rather than charging off into the middle of a cauldron, and be killed instantly, you need to hang around until the later stages of the fight. Charge off onto the flanks (with some support) by all means, you can always get easy targets by flanking, but of late I have changed my method and it seems to be working extremely well. You are looking for what I will call the “Moment”. That time when things open up and your speed comes into play. There are three stages to the fight. The Begining The start is about surviving by working with a medium or heavy. Picking someone who is high up on the ratings ladder at the start of the game is probably a good move here. Note that working with someone does not mean touching them – give everyone room to be able to move at top speed. Be their wingman and focus on protecting them. If they get tangled with a light or med you can often help for a quick kill. If there is an artillery in the game you need to be really careful about getting spotted, and if you are spotted, move. Light tanks are easy prey for arty. Be a little reluctant to engage, but aggressively take out other lights and mediums from afar. They are the eyes of enemy artillery and have the speed to respond to you later in the game when you are picking off easy targets. If you are actively scouting and get into trouble, disengage. Hopefully you have some support nearby so run for it. In finding them you have done your job. NEVER GO HEAD TO HEAD with any medium or heavy, unless you know what you are doing. Engaging a bigger hitter than yourself in a low spec light is simply stupid. The Middle The middle (hopefully you are still here) is when the enemy numbers have thinned down and usually are spread out – often outside radio contact. Tanks cut off by themselves cannot clearly show thier team-mates where they are when the SOS call goes out. THIS IS ALMOST THE MOMENT. Keep a close eye on the map and attempt to identify tanks by themselves. Blast through/around the line and get behind -your speed now comes into its own but be selective. A loner, or a tank engaged with another tank is pre-occupied and you will most likely be able to get in nice and close. Be aware that skilled heavy drivers will recognise you as a serious threat and will target you first, so leave room to manouver and get away if things go a bit amiss. This is the Moment In a max spec light you will be lethal. Behind anything, your rate of fire is usually sufficient to sit for a few shots for a kill. Noobie heavies almost always respond by staying in cover and turning only the turret which doesn’t work. Be aware good heavy drivers negate this with the tank/turret turn, they will catch you. If they turn both the tank and the turret they are experienced and dangerous so use the speed to get out of there, call in help and look to come back later. Arty is often at the rear so blast through the lines to find them for an easy kill. Better heavy drivers often stagger defense so finding the rear line is important. If you see explosion dust where you think they are that is a great time to go forward, they are probably a little occupied and might not notice you. If you can get at the back then snipe away. Also home bases are where people who might be just sitting there (dropped out?) are easy kills. Once you are thinning things out the end comes quick, be aggressive and find stragglers. Light Tank Roles LIghts have a couple of big roles to play. As scouts they are fabulous, fast and nimble with reasonable viewing distances. So get out there and find the enemy for your big brothers, scouting earns you credits, in some cases serious amounts. Acoustics are great to carry for this role. In addition to finding out the enemy locations for heavies to take out, it shows the path you need to take to get in behind where you so most damage. Sometimes when things are blocked up you can use your speed to create a diversion which forces a reaction. This might be turning to respond to your fast approach, which exposes their rear/sides to your team, or creating an opportunity for your heavies to push forward. As long as you use some cover for this, or target the thin side of the defensive line, you can get close enough to “circle of death”. At the end of the day tanks are weapons platforms - a means to get a gun in a particular location aiming at a particular target. As a light you have a highly manouverable, high speed gun. Use it like that to get rear shots on the enemy and you will not go far wrong. Category:Playing with other light tanks